New and established players are building innovative hardware and software architectures designed to enable smartphones and tablets to interface with in-vehicle infotainment systems, observed research firm IHS in a recently released report.

While traditional infotainment vendors continue to dominate the market, other players from the PC and consumer electronics industries, with experience in mobile devices and how they link with automotive components, are also entering the automotive market as infotainment suppliers.

Traditional suppliers Panasonic and Pioneer topped the list of automotive infotainment suppliers last year, according to IHS.

Panasonic reached automotive infotainment revenue of nearly $4 billion last year, which gave it a 12 percent market share. Pioneer moved into second place, posting revenue of $3.2 billion, or a 9.8 percent market share.

IHS noted that Pioneer has a "well-diversified portfolio comprising OEM and aftermarket dealers, boosted by strong presence in the United States, China and the emerging markets in developing countries."

"In a replication of the results of 2011, Panasonic along with the rest of the Top 10 accounted for nearly two-thirds of overall motor vehicle infotainment revenue in 2012. Of the industry's total revenue last year of $34.6 billion, the Top 10 accounted for $22.6 billion, or 65 percent," observed Luca de Ambroggi, principal analyst for automotive infotainment at IHS.

Features like connectivity, telematics and an intuitive human-machine interface now count as major purchase decisions for consumers looking to buy new cars, IHS noted.

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